Tuesday, 31 March 2015 17:41
LONDON: Sterling rose to the day’s high against the euro on Tuesday while gilt futures fell briefly, after data showed the British economy grew at a faster pace in the fourth quarter of last year than previously estimated.
Gross domestic product between October and December grew by a quarterly 0.6 percent, the Office for National Statistics said, compared with 0.5 percent in a previous reading and matching the pace of growth in the third quarter.
The pound hit a high of 72.62 pence per euro, rising from 72.785 pence beforehand, and up 0.6 percent on the day. Against the dollar, sterling climbed to $ 1.4788 after the data was released, from around $ 1.4765 beforehand.
It eased back trade at $ 1.4770 by 0841 GMT.
British government bond futures briefly extended losses by more than 10 ticks after the GDP data, but by 0833 GMT were back to their pre-data level at 120.60, 13 ticks down on the day.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
